The Ultimates: When Thunder Booms
by Ultimate Telos
Summary: Set between The Ultimates 1 & 2. The Ultimates must unite once more to face a new threat - the Ultimate Thunderbolts! Please excuse continuity errors, feedback appreciated. Rated T for coarse language and gore. Spoilers alert. Chapter 3 now up!
1. The Super Soldier

_Author's notes__: First off I want to apologize for any continuity errors that you may encounter throughout this story. Thus far, I haven't actually read all of the Ultimates, only Superhuman (volume 1). Almost all of the plot details I have gleaned from the Wikipedia, heh. After buying it just this week, I've become almost obsessed with the Ultimates, and I've done my best to make it plausible (i.e. it doesn't take a stretch of the imagination for it to fit in with continuity). I'll gladly take any advice, praise or criticisms on offer. Thanks =)_

**The Ultimates: When Thunder Booms**

_1:22pm, July 24, 2004. The Triskelion, Captain America's quarters._

The view of Manhattan from Steve Rogers' bedroom window was spectacular. The immense New York cityscape rested against a backdrop of a pale cerulean sky. The Statue of Liberty, like a candle in the darkness, protruded from within shimmering azure water. Ferries constantly transported gawking tourists back and forth. From afar it seemed perfect, flawless – the towering buildings masked the poverty and crime with a veil of bustling activity, omnipresent street noise and constant lights.

Steve reclined on his sofa, stretching out his legs and resting his head on his hands. It had been quite some time since he'd had the chance to relax – the recent surge in superhuman criminal activity had forced the Ultimates into combat four times in the past week. In addition, Steve had had to complete debriefings on all their recent missions, attend a press conference and explain away controversies regarding Tony Stark's alcoholism and Hank's abusive nature, report to General Fury for information about the current status of the alien chitauri and read a 1,000-page analysis on the properties of vibranium. It was Saturday, and it felt unbelievably good to simply "chill out" and spend the afternoon watching Spike TV after the stresses of the week. Later in the evening he intended to go out to dinner with Janet van Dyne, the Wasp. Lately the two had been an item; the relationship had been fragile and somewhat rocky to begin with, but things were beginning to smoothen out.

Steve's moment of respite was slashed short by his mobile phone's irritating ringtone. _I really need to change that,_ he thought as he reached across to grab it off the adjacent coffee table. A quick glance at its screen immediately drew a groan from Steve. _Fury again_. He ran a hand through his short flaxen hair and answered the call.

"Yeah?" he mumbled, pressing the phone against his ear.

"Cap! I need you in the war room, pronto!" came Nick Fury's anxious reply.

Steve quickly snapped out of his afternoon daze. It was rare for Fury to sound so urgent, so whatever was going on was obviously very serious. "I'll be right there, General!"

Dashing to his closet, the deceptively-youthful war veteran ripped one of his uniforms and a mask off a coathanger. Within a matter of seconds, he had stripped off his civilian clothing and donned the visage of the sentinel of liberty. As he bolted out of the room, Cap snatched his vibranium-adamantium alloy shield from his bedside. The shield was much more than simply a means of defense – it was symbolic of freedom itself, evidence of the accomplishments of democracy. It embodied everything Captain America stood for, while at the same time allowing him to bash the crap out of his opponents. Adorned with rings of cobalt and crimson and emblazoned with a white five-pointed star, it was a true patriot's dream and, in Steve's capable hands, a potentially lethal weapon.

_1:23pm, July 24. The Triskelion, War Room._

When Cap arrived, the rest of the Ultimates were already waiting for him. Iron Man, sheathed in gleaming red and gold metal; the mysterious and sexy Black Widow, dressed in tight black leather; the Wasp, hovering at face height, smooth Asian skin reflecting the light of the computer monitors spread around the room; former Olympic archer Hawkeye, quiver filled with trick arrows of all sorts; mutant siblings Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, clad in equally colorful and flamboyant outfits; and of course, battle-hardened General Nicholas Fury. Thor, the God of Thunder (or was he a just nutcase with a mighty hammer?), was absent, or in his words, "dealing with frost giants on the battlefields of Niffleheim". Henry "Hank" Pym, or Giant-Man, and Robert Bruce Banner, better known as the infamous Hulk, were both suspended from the team and being detained within the Triskelion.

"The long and the short of it," Fury began, "is that up until this afternoon, Victor van Damme, or 'Doctor Doom' as the papers dubbed him, was M.I.A, believed dead. According to our intel, Doom ventured into a parallel universe ravaged by an infectious 'zombie' plague and was presumably killed."

"Same old, same old," Tony grinned behind his helmet, "find him, bring him in, right?"

"Not that simple, Stark. At 1:19pm today, Doom showed up in Times Square. Claims he's rigged half of New York with explosives, and the bastard's demanding that both us and the Fantastic Four surrender to him immediately."

Fury paused briefly to allow the Ultimates to mull over this information. "Your objective is straightforward – take him out as quickly as possible without civilian casualties. Cap, I'll let you decide on a plan of attack. Because we're currently short on members, for the purposes of this mission Shadow team is part of the standard Ultimates team. Clear?"

"Yes, sir!" Captain America responded with gusto.

The team of superhumans filed out behind Cap, silently praying they wouldn't have to deal with a massacre.


	2. Doom on the Horizon

_1:26pm, July 24. Times Square, New York City._

The Ultimates were on the scene in minutes. It was utter chaos. Overwhelmed police desperately evacuated the populace while simultaneously attempting to quell the rising fear and hysteria. Screaming people of all ages darted left and right. Brightly colored billboards and neon signs flashed fancy slogans aimed at enticing naïve citizens into buying expensive products, but the advertisements were ignored by the frantic denizens. Amidst the anarchy, Captain America was trying to yell instructions at Iron Man.

"We need to calm these people, now, before somebody gets killed!" Cap boomed.

"I'll take care of it," Iron Man responded in a synthesized mechanical voice. Activating the jets in his boots, the armored Ultimate flew into the air, directly above the center of the pandemonium. Firing a blast of glowing-green plasma into the sky to get the public's attention, Iron Man addressed the frenzied crowd.

"Everybody shut up!" he roared, using his armor to amplify his voice far beyond normal levels. "A situation has arisen and I need you all to form an orderly line leading down 47th avenue. Leave your belongings behind. Please cooperate with these fine police officers, and, above all, remain calm!"

Slowly, reluctantly, the mass of worried civilians began to obey Iron Man's orders, clearing the intersection. He repeated similar messages several times, waiting anxiously for the mob to dissipate. Iron Man landed back beside Captain America, extinguishing his boot rockets.

"Good work," Cap remarked, before turning to Quicksilver. "Scout the area for Doom. We need to know exactly where he is, and his status." A light breeze whipped the super-soldier's face as the mutant speedster vanished. A few seconds later, Quicksilver had returned, white hair blown back over his face by the wind. Pietro Maximoff's abilities had been significantly hindered when the mutant terrorist Magneto, also his father, had fired a machine gun into his kneecaps. Although he'd partially recovered from the injury, he had been left with a limp that drastically impaired his speed.

"Doctordoomisontopofthetoys'r''." he panted.

"Take a deep breath and repeat that again, slowly," Captain America commanded.

_I don't trust him,_ thought Tony behind his metallic helmet. _As a matter of fact I don't trust anybody who wants to get in bed with their sister. What a creep._

"Sorry," Quicksilver gasped, slowing down. "Doom is on top of the Toys 'R' Us building about three hundred meters from here. He's surrounded by ten robotic guard drones, probably with plasma weapons."

"So, what do we do, Steve?" Janet asked, tapping her heel against the ground impatiently.

"Well… we need to neutralize Doom very quickly, before he has a chance to detonate any explosives. But even you're not fast enough to take him and his guards down in time, Quicksilver."

"I could try picking him off from a distance with an explosive-tipped arrow," Hawkeye suggested.

"That's what I was thinking too, but Doom's sentry bots are likely to have heat sensors, and could detect you long before you attack. They could simply shoot the arrow itself and make it detonate prematurely."

"Wait a minute," interrupted Quicksilver, "How the hell do you know they can sense heat?"

"Reed Richards told me last time we spoke," Cap coolly replied. "The last model he fought had this feature."

"My armor's equipped with a pulse cannon," Iron Man intoned. "It can short out robotic circuitry, but Doom's bodyguards are pretty advanced. I wouldn't be surprised at all if they have the ability to reboot themselves. If I used it on them, I reckon you'd have around two seconds to kill or disable Doom before the bots wake up. Also, it takes up a very large amount of my armor's power, so I can only use it once before I have to recharge."

"Alright. Iron Man, fly to the top of that Robco building there. Use your pulse cannon to disable the bots. Hawkeye, take the elevator and break a window so it doesn't obstruct your line of fire. You'll need to shoot _before_ Iron Man, because the arrow will take longer to reach Doom," Captain America ordered, pointing at the closest skyscraper.

Nodding, the pair obeyed the patriotic super-soldier's instructions. Tony rocketed to the roof whilst Clint shoved a security guard out of his way, yelled at him to get out of the city ("retarded civilian!"), and took a lift.

"Ready when you are, Hawkeye," said Iron Man, aiming his arm at the distant silhouettes of Doctor Doom and his robotic guardians. The heads-up-display inside his helmet showed him his target's distance, along with other information about his environment and body.

"Hold on," replied Hawkeye, bursting out of the elevator. Lashing out with his right foot, the archer shattered the nearest window. He crouched, drew an arrow from his quiver, and steadied his hands, carefully judging the approximate trajectory of the projectile he was about release. "Okay," he announced, "I'm shooting now."

The volatile arrow soared through the polluted city sky, streaking toward Doom. Exactly 2.5 seconds later, aided by his armor's tracking system, Iron Man activated his pulse cannon, sending a blast of electricity in the same direction. The pulse discharge overtook the speeding arrow in midair and impacted against Doctor Doom. The resulting electrical explosion shut down the guardian drones, sending out arcs and forks of bright white energy. Moments later, the arrow slammed into the same spot and the rooftop was engulfed in a blossoming mushroom-cloud inferno. Iron Man followed this up with a compact anti-tank missile, obliterating the top three floors of the Toys 'R' Us building. Smoke, dust and debris filled the air as the remnants of the destroyed complex collapsed.

"Quicksilver," Captain America barked, "search for any remains of Doom or his bodyguards. We need to confirm his demise."

Again the mutant speedster dashed away. Less than ten seconds later he had burst back onto the scene, clutching in his hand something that made the rest of the team gasp…


	3. Dinner for One

Loud banging noises and the sound of gunfire reverberated around the Triskelion. With the power out, Bruce Banner stood alone in his cell, desperately yelling and pounding his palms against the reinforced glass in a forlorn attempt to get somebody's attention. Although he was constantly high on doses of the anti-Hulk sedative he had developed himself, he was still supposed to be monitored at all times, but it seemed like everyone's attention was drawn elsewhere. Something was very wrong.

"For God's sake, is anybody out there!" Bruce shouted vainly, beginning to give up. Suddenly, a bright green glow lit up the shadows, revealing an iridescent Asian man garbed in a simple white labcoat.

"Oh yes, Bruce Banner. We've completely overrun the building." the glowing man replied, grinning sadistically.

Bruce's eyes widened in recognition and fear. "Chen Lu!" he gasped. Dubbed "The Radioactive Man" by the media, Chen Lu had gained notoriety when he volunteered for China's _Superior Communism_ Project, essentially a rip-off of the Super Soldier Program responsible for creating Captain America. The abundance of chemicals that were pumped into his bloodstream affected Lu's physiology, and when he was involved in a nuclear accident his body absorbed and stored the radiation like a nuclear battery.

Bruce panicked, and frantically tried to make himself as angry as he possibly could, fill his brain with all sorts of enraging and disturbing imagery. Maybe, if he frenzied himself enough, the Hulk would break through the sedative?

Chen Lu chuckled darkly, amused at Bruce's futile efforts. "That's right, fool, just keep making yourself look like an idiot…"

Bruce collapsed to his knees in hopelessness. His cheeks were crimson, and his veins popped out with fury – but the anti-Hulk sedative made his endeavors utterly worthless. Crying angrily, he slammed his fist against the hard metal floor, before quickly recoiling in pain. Chen Lu's cruel laughter echoed in the dimly lit vicinity.

"Enough of this nonsense. My comrades in the Thunderbolts need me – but you must be taken out of the equation. We don't want the big bad Hulk ruining our fun, do we?" Chen curled his glowing fist, then thrust it forward. Invisible gamma rays branched out from Lu's fingertips, penetrating everything in the immediate area. Though Bruce couldn't feel the cancerous energy, he knew it was there, infiltrating his body, damaging his flesh and planting seeds of disease. That's when he felt it… his rage growing out of control, a shadowy, powerful presence taking over. He barely had time to realize that the radiation was fueling his Hulk blood cells before he began to make the transformation.

Chen Lu's malevolent sniggers rapidly faded as Bruce Banner's arms started to ripple and twist. All over his body, muscles swelled and expanded. Bruce's t-shirt fell in tatters, torn apart by his swiftly broadening chest. His skin paled from a healthy pink into a sickly smoke-gray hue. His feet burst through his comparatively tiny sneakers, constantly growing. Bruce's colossal jaw was filled with huge, mobile phone-sized teeth. Roaring and thrashing like a wounded bear, his bones extended, doubling his height in seconds. The shocking alteration complete, the Incredible Hulk smashed through the flimsy wall of glass, sending jagged shards everywhere, and turned his attention to the Radioactive Man. A primal growl escaped the Hulk's rigid lips as Bruce Banner's savage, unremorseful dark side focused on the cowering Chinese superhuman.

"Oh, fuck..." was all Chen Lu had time to say before he was seized by the enormous gray monster and effortlessly tossed against the thick metallic corridor wall. A sickening crunch was audible as bone split through incandescent green flesh. Luminous blood spilled onto the floor, lighting the scene in an emerald tinge.

"Hulk… hungry," the brute rumbled, lumbering to the twisted corpse of Chen Lu. Throwing aside Lu's bloodsoaked labcoat, the Hulk bit into the dead man's carcass, ripping off chunks of meat and sinew. He feasted on the shredded body, sinking his humungous teeth into various glowing organs. Ravenously, the beast cracked open bones to suck out the radioactive marrow residing inside. Plunging his fist into the remains of the Radioactive Man's torso, Hulk drew out his rubbery intestines and stuffed them into his jaws. When all the edible (and some non-edible) matter was devoured, the disgusting creature slurped the blood from the floor. Like a mannerless child licking up gravy, the Hulk sucked it all into his greedy maw. By the time he was done, the only remnants of Chen Lu were a few shattered bones and a dirty labcoat.

With a bellow, the Hulk bounded through the ceiling, swinging his arms to demolish the fragile concrete and discover the source of the chaos.


End file.
